Grain-car door



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7 Filed Jan. 31. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO'R PE. T/FTs ATTORNEYS July 29 1924. 1,503,173

' P. E. TUFTS GRAIN CAR DOOR Filed Jan. 31. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

U/y/j A TTOR/VE rs Patented July 29, 1924.

UNETED TATES retain PATENT OFFFEE.

PHILIP EPI-IREIN TUFIS, OF DEL-ISLE, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE ALEXANDER FERGUSON, OF SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA.

GRAIN-GAR DOOR.

Application filed January 31, 1923. Serial No. 616,141.

To all whom 2'25 may concern:

Be 1t known that I, PHILIP E. Torrs, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Delisle, in the Province of 5 Saskatchewan, Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and Improved Grain-Car Door, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in doorclosures for rolling stock, and has particular reference to a sectional door for grain cars. 7 1

'In the shipment of grain and the like, it has heretofore been customary to seal the 1 door openings of the grain cars by securing boards to the inside of the frame ofthe doors by nails orother fasteners. When unloading the grain from the cars it is necessary to dislodge these boards and this has been found to be a tedious and wasteful operation inasmuch as the boards are broken and damaged to such an extent that they must be discarded and cannot again be used, It has also been found that the excessive strain produced by the pressure of the grain against the interior of the boards, when the cars are loaded, causessaid boards to bulge outwardly to such an extent that the grain escapes therebetweenj It is also known that this strain has been suflicient to break the boards resulting in a serious loss of the grain from the cars. 4 i An object of the present invention is to dispense'with the above practice by providing a sectionalized car door, the sections of which may be readily and quickly removed without damaging the same when unloading the car.

Another object is to so arrange the sections of the door that when the same are in closmg position they form a compact structure, which effectively prevents the escape 'of grain from the car and in which certain of the sections brace or reinforce other sections to render the door rigid and eliminate the possibility of bulging thereof, due to the pressure of the grain against the interior of the door.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the following detail descriptionfwhen taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, 'whichillustrate a preferred embodiment of the inventive idea;

In the drawings Figure 1 IS a fragmentary transverse section taken through the door opening and substantially on the line 11 of Figure 2; V

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the accompan'y ng drawings, the numeral 5 illustrates conventionally a portion of a grain car havmg a door opening .6 therein, which is formed by a frame including the side mem bers 7 and the top member 8.

The closure or door, which includes the essential features of the present invention, preferably comprises a frame including the side members 9 pivotally connected at their upper ends by any suitable means, such as bolts 10, to the side members 7 of the frame of the door opening. Each side member 9 is formed with an extension 11 along its inner vertical edge which is bent, as clearly illustratedrin Figure 3, to form with the side members 7 a channel for receiving a sealing strip 12, which is designed to reinforce the portion 11 of the side member 9 and at the same. time prevent the escape of grain between the side members 7 and9. The lower ends of the side members 9 are connected by a cross brace 13 to form a rigid structure.

A plurality of supporting cleats Hare secured by any suitable means to the opposed faces of the side members 9. The cleats on each side member are arranged in inner and outer vertical rows or series, the cleats of each series being disposed diagonally with respect to a plane extending longitudinally through the side member and in spaced relation relative to each other. The cleats of each series vare also disposed in staggered relation with respect to those of the other series and the planes of the supporting surfaces of the cleats of one series are arranged substantially at right angles to the planes of the supporting surfaces of the cleats of the other series. A plurality of sections 15 each preferably formed from a single sheet of metal, although other material may be used, are employed to form the body of the door and are supported upon the cleats 14. Each section 15 is provided along each longitudinal edge thereof with a flange 16, which terminates short of the ends of the section so that said ends may be readily supported upon the cleats 14. lVhen the sections 15 are in position those which are supported upon the inner row of cleats 14 are arranged in staggered relation and at substantially right angles to the sect-ions supported upon the outer row of cleats. I

In assembling the sections when filling the car with grain, a section .15 is first engaged with the lowermost cleat 14 of the outer vertical row on each side member 9. Should any space be left between the ends of the lower flange 16 of said section and the side members 9, this space may be filled in any desired manner, if found necessary, to stop the escape of grainfrom the car. Another section is then mounted upon the lowermost cleat of the inner row of each side member so that the outer flange 16 of the latter section will engage and extend longitudinally of the intermediate portion of the first mentioned section, thereby support ing said second named section in proper position. As the car is filled another section 15 is mounted upon the next to thelowermost cleat of the outer row on each side member so that its inner flange will engage and extend longitudinally of the intermediate portion of the section supported upon the lowermost cleat of the inner row. In this manner the sections are so disposed in superposed relation that the planes of adjacent sections intersect and are arranged at substantially right angles with respect to each other. The operation of building up the sections may be continued in the manner described as the car is being filled and as many of the sections may be utilized as is considered necessary to prevent the escape of grain from the car. When the sections are in their closing position it will be obvious from their arrangement that each section of the outer row engages the medial portion of the next lower section in the inner vertical row and is in turn engaged at its medial portion by the outer flange of thenext higher section in the inner row. Through this disposition of the sections each of the outer sections which engages an inner section braces or reinforces the same against the pressure of grain from the interior of the car against the inner sections and also supports another of said inner sections in proper position.

After the various sections have been mounted as described, a vertical rod 17 is supported in position along the outer vertical edge of each of the side members 9 and is arranged to be contacted by the adjacent end of any one of the outer sections 15 so as to limit any inadvertent outward movement of said sections which might be occa- The unloading of the car is facilitated by the disposition of the various sections 15. Thus when starting the unloading operation the lowermost section of the outer row is first withdrawn by grasping the outer flange 16 thereof and pulling said section upwardly and outwardly from beneath the lowermost section of the inner row to pro vide a small opening at the bottom of the door through which the grain may escape. This opening may be gradually enlarged by withdrawing the lowermost inner section by an upward and inward pull and thereafter alternately withdrawing an outer and an inner section until all of said sections are removed.

Should it be desired, the door may be swung to the dotted line position shown in Figure 1 when the car is empty and the sec-. tions 15 removed, in which position the same is supported by a bracket 18 depending from the roof of the car and provided at its lower end with an opening 19 for receiving a pin (not shown) which is also passed through an opening 20 formed in the lower end of the side member 9.

VVhatis claimed is:

1. In a door for grain cars, a frame, and a plurality of separable sections forming the body of the door supported in said frame, the intermediate portion of each of said sections forming a support for a next adjacent section.

2. In a door for grain cars, a frame, and a plurality of separable sections forming the body of the door supported in said frame, each of'said sections forming a support for a next adjacent section and being engaged medially thereof by said adjacent section.

3. In a door for grain cars, a frame, and a plurality of separable sections forming the body of the door supported in said frame, each of said sections forming a support for a next adjacent section and being engaged at an intermediate portion thereof by a longitudinal edge of said next adjacent section.

1. A door for grain cars, a frame, and a plurality of sections supported in said frame and arranged in vertical rows and in staggered relation with respect to the next adj a cent sections.

5. In a door for grain cars, a frame, and a plurality of sections supported in said frame, each of said sections forming a support for a next adjacent section and being engaged at an intermediate portion thereof by said next adjacent section and engaging the intermediate portion of another adjacent section. i

6. In a door for grain cars, a frame, and a plurality of sections in said frame arranged in inner and outer vertical rows, the sections in one row being disposed at such angles with respect to the sections in the other row that the planes of adjacent sections intesect.

7. In a door for grain cars, a frame, and a plurality of superposed sections supported in said frame and arranged at such angles With respect to each other that the planes of adjacent sections intersect at a point intermediate the opposite edges of one of said sections.

8. In a door for grain cars, a frame, and a plurality of sections angularly disposed with respect to each other, certain of said sections engaging others intermediate their longitudinal edges to brace the same.

9. In a door for grain cars, a frame pivotally mounted in a door opening, and a plurality of separable sections supported in said frame and each of which is angularly disposed With respect to and engageable with an intermediate portion of another section.

10. In a door for grain carsya frame including side members having portions thereof spaced from the sides thereof to provide channels, filling strips mounted in said channels, and separable sections carried by said frame and engaging each other in angularly disposed relation.

' PHILIP EPI-IREIN 'IUFTS. 

